Have you met the Kilobot? It’s small, simple, inexpensive—not the most impressive robot, on its own. But the Kilobot wasn’t made to work alone, or even in twos or threes. No, where the Kilobot really thrives is in groups. Since 2010, the size of the group in which it cooperates has steadily grown, and with it the… »7/22/15 6:00pm 7/22/15 6:00pm

Mormon crickets occasionally swarm across the Midwest in droves. They keep moving across vast distances, for two reasons – they’re looking for food, and they don’t want to look like food to each other. Here’s how to keep being eaten by cannibals, if you’re a cricket. »6/04/15 12:49pm 6/04/15 12:49pm

In addition to being one of the more unlikely string of words you've heard this week, this aerial video of reindeer-herding shot by a hexacopter camera drone is surprisingly serene and relaxing. Watching it feels a little like tending a rock garden with your brain. »2/28/14 9:00pm 2/28/14 9:00pm

By using ten tiny robots equipped with light sensors and an exceedingly simple set of rules, scientists have successfully replicated the navigational behavior of colony ants. The breakthrough could result in more efficient transportation systems for humans — but it also gives us a new understanding of how these… »3/29/13 11:00am 3/29/13 11:00am

Here are two things you should do immediately. One: watch this. It's a jaw-dropping video of starlings in flight that will straight up give you chills. The swirling cloud of birds is called a "murmuration," and it's just one example of how animals in very large groups can engage in remarkably coordinated collective… »3/22/13 10:23am 3/22/13 10:23am

When the conditions are just right, solitary grasshoppers undergo a terrifying transformation that converts them into masses of swarming locusts that destroy crops. New research reveals why swarming locusts grow much bigger brains than ordinary grasshoppers. »5/26/10 6:00pm 5/26/10 6:00pm